Legal Commentary

Sessions, Hatch, Supported Extreme Right Wing Group Accusing Cabranes, Sotomayor Of Terrorist Links

By Big Tent Democrat

Ian Milheiser has the details about the support given by GOP Senators Sessions, Hatch and McCain to the extreme Right Wing group Committee for Justice, which is running an ad accusing Puerto Rican judges Jose Cabranes and Sonia Sotomayor of cavorting with terrorists:

Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT), a member of the Judiciary Committee, was a featured guest at a Georgetown fundraiser for the Committee for Justice in 2003. According to the New York Times, the event raised at least $50,000 for the right-wing group that is responsible for the recent Sotomayor slime piece. . . . The right-wing group also has other ties to GOP Senators. CFJ’s Chairman of the Board worked on John McCain’s presidential campaign as a “Director of Conservative Outreach.” . . . Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL) defended CFJ and its [2003 ad attacking Senator Leahy as "anti-Catholic" (ironically, Leahy is Catholic)] on the Senate floor:

There has been an awful lot of railing about this ad by the Committee for Justice. . . . I say it is legitimate commentary.

Are Sessions, Hatch, and their conservative colleagues still willing to defend the Committee for Justice and argue that it is “legitimate commentary” to imply Sotomayor [and Cabranes] [are] terrorist[s]?

Speaking for me only

Full post as published by TalkLeft on July 15, 2009 (boomark / email).